The world of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is filled with broken people, characters who are damaged and hurt and unlikely to find a way out of their circumstances. It is there that Alan Arkin's John Singer finds a home. A deaf-mute in the South of the 1960s, his only friend is a mentally challenged individual named Antonapoulos. But when Antonapoulos is institutionalized, Singer moves to a town near the facility to be closer to his friend, and rents a room from a family struggling with the recent crippling injury of their patriarch. There's a very special aspect of Arkin's performance that is particularly worthy of note -- despite the fact that he can't speak or hear, the character never comes off as dumb or slow, which is something that a lot of actors struggle with. His intelligence and dignity is significant to the film, as he becomes friends with the family's teenage daughter, but never becomes cloyingly sentimental.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
